Stuck In Transit...: Rewind: Banteah Chhmar (Nov 2013)

Literally, Banteay Chhmar is a hidden gem.

It’s one of those places where it’s barely covered on Lonely Planet or any guidebook at all.

It’s about 3 hours away from Siem Reap and about 20km from the Thai border. It’s a small cluster of quaint villages with barely any tourists and happy locals. What make this place so special is that there is an old temple that was built by Jayavarman VII about 2,000 years ago. Like the Angkor Wat, it was once a flourishing walled city with a temple operating as a political and religious core of the civilization.

The site had been abandoned for centuries and over the years there have been looting and destruction from bandits and thefts. Only recently had it been “re-discovered” and restorations are taking place.

As the area was not declared mine-free until 2008, tourism only opened up recently. Only under 1,000 tourists visited the site last year, a startling comparison to the Angkor Wat which hosts over 2 million tourists each year. If you want to avoid screaming and pushy tourists and enjoy the local bucolic lifestyle, this is the place to be.

The tourism office provides a variety of activities to do besides visiting the temple which includes a tractor tour in the area, bicycle rentals, and a live music/dinner banquet at the temple.

Live traditional music

Candle lit Khmer food dinner

Bicycle rental available for a nice stroll along the bucolic landscape

The roads are so bad here that cars are an inconvenience. Hence this machine. I call it the monster tractor.

Hold on tight!

Beautiful sky and bumpy road ahead

My Khmer teacher was kind enough to invite me on the trip with her friends and her other students and we all had a wonderful time. I highly recommend this place if you are tired of tuktuk drivers calling out to you and tourists screaming at each other. Plus, the tourism here is sustainable and will benefit the local communities. There are no buses that go here so it's best to arrange a private car. There are some travel agencies that arrange a tour or get information directly from the local tourism office link.

Caveat: the road is VERY BUMPY. If you get car sick easily, bring medication.

Cheerful locals on their way to work

Since there are no hotels around here, you can "home stay" with local families or unoccupied traditional Khmer houses

The room is basic but it has a bed and a mosquito net, even a fan (beware, the electricity runs out at 9pm)

Drinking game time under the mosquito net!

Entry fee into the temple is $5. Compare this with $20 to the Angkor Wat. Although the scale is much smaller than AW, this place is so quaint and peaceful, it is totally worth more than it's price!